Bob and Mag,
Just need to charge up my digital camera's batteries; should have them out by tomorrow. There is not too much difference in what the commercial guys use. Some have two entrances, but most like me have four. Almost all use a two foot cube. Some cubes even have a separate holding parlor but where I set them there is always a spider crab problem, hence traps with complicated holding parlors become a bear to get the crabs out. I have no use for complicated fish pots. The only real difference that I see is the gage of the wire mesh used. The heavier pots use 12 gage while the lighter use 14 gage. There have been several articles written as to which gage catches better, and the lighter gage won out. However, if one would go any lighter than 14 gage, the pot would lack structural strength. A 14 gage scup pot, even with weights, is lighter than a small lobster pot. I always picked out junked old zincs from the West Marine trash bucket and recycle them to my pots. Pots, even of the lighter gage, usually get lost before they corrode away if protected by zincs. I will also include a picture of an "S" trap. These are rather large traps of a more complex design that have raised controversy in their use. Some pot fisherman swear by them, others swear at them. I tried them just for a short period since I was told they can take summer flounder. Found that to be a tall story. They do catch scup like crazy, but they do even a better job of catching spider crabs. An "S" pot with weights might go 35 to 40 pounds empty. However, since it can catch several hundred spider crabs overnight, the trap can end up weighting well over a hundred pounds in air, too much to even get it aboard without a hauler. Too many times I found myself reaching over the side (as I could not get it into the boat) to pin the doors open (lost all the scup in it) so the spider crabs can walk out of it after I dropped it back down. Found these "S" traps to be a real waste of bait so I gave up on them. However, if dropped where the scup are swarming, there is no doubt they have the potential to catch fifty pounds of scup in an hour. The one type of pot that I cannot show you is one that will take summer flounder. Sometimes a lobster pot will take a fluke or two, but for the most part fluke just do not go into pots. That fluke will not go into pots has always put me at odds with the rest of the commercial industry. Fluke are a very aggressive fish and I believe one should be able to get them in pots. However, all of the traps in common use do not work well at all. Most pot fishermen have given up on taking fluke in pots. I have been trying to invent a pot for years that will take fluke, but without luck. Still I am sort of hardheaded, and have not given up yet. Should I figure out one that works, I would not even put a patent on it. A workable fluke pot just might be one way to drive a nail into the coffin of what has to become the final demise of wasteful drag operations. |